Temporary Wife

By Cat Shaffer

Heather Whitestone's life is too full for romance. Twenty-four hours shifts as an EMT and time with her brother's family leaves precious few moments to worry about a man. Her priority: To pull down as much overtime as possible to save up and become a paramedic. The last person she expects to see when she rushes into the emergency department with a critical patient is her brother's best friend, the new doctor at the hospital. And the last thing she expects is for him to propose marriage.

 

Zach Miller has a problem. After an internship in Las Vegas, he returned to his hometown of Addam's Ridge, Ohio, for a position as an emergency room physician. He's barely had time to settle in when he learns that he's the father of a two-year-old daughter. He wants nothing more than to raise her in his hometown, but her Nevada grandparents are insisting on keeping her. His best hope to gain custody is to be married. And when he sees Heather with her nephews, he decides a business arrangement might be in order: A temporary marriage with him paying for her paramedic training as a reward.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fat Cat Pubishing
• Release date: Aug 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223495772

Cat Shaffer

Cat Shaffer lives in northeastern Kentucky, close enough to visit her native Ohio from time to time. She lives with a spoiled dog, a bossy cat and neighbors who say howdy when they see her. She is an award-winning author and journalist who loves creating stories that reflect her small town roots.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Red lights whirled against the raging rain as Heather Whitestone tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She held her breath, made a sharp turn and managed to miss a fallen tree limb by inches.

You all right back there? she yelled as the storm beat against the speeding ambulance.

Yeah, her partner shouted back, never stopping CPR. Just get us there.

She flinched as another flash of lightning illuminated the county road ahead of them. Her partner, one of the best paramedics on the county service, was fighting to keep their patient alive. Her job was to get them to the nearest hospital ASAP.

Heather finally spotted the blinking yellow light through the heavy rain. There. She eased off the gas and peered toward the turnoff. Relief filled her at the sign with a big white H on a blue background. Two miles later she rolled up to the emergency bay, sirens screaming.

A crew in scrubs rushed over as she backed in. By the time Heather reached the rear, a staffer had joined Ted to hurry the cot in. She slammed the doors shut and followed them. A nurse waited for the details.

Age forty-two, male, prior heart attack, transporting after a 911 call about chest pain, Heather recited. Went into cardiac arrest a few minutes after we left his house.

Her partner joined her to fill in details of the fifteen-mile drive.

I need coffee, he said as soon as they finished. He sounded exhausted.

Go ahead. Heather waved her hand toward a sign pointing toward the cafeteria. I’ll get a signature and catch up.

She needed someone to okay the all-important paperwork or the billing staff would have her hide. Heather managed to grab a nursing supervisor and hand her a pen. That was done. All that was left was to fill in the run details.

She glanced at a wall clock as she walked toward the brightly-lit cafeteria. Two a.m. Normal people were in bed at this hour, not on the downward side of a twenty-four-hour shift.

Fatigue crept in as her adrenaline rush faded. Coffee was good. No, coffee was essential.

Heather found an unattended pot by the nurse’s station. She rounded the end of the counter, poured herself a cup and added powdered lightener. She took a tentative sip. The coffee was old and bitter but caffeine was caffeine.

You know we charge for that stuff, right?

A rich male voice came from behind her.

She stiffened. What was he doing here?

More like you should pay me to drink it, she said, forcing a smile as she turned.

Let me buy you a cup of something that won’t rot your stomach. The tall, dark-haired man’s voice dwindled off.

Yep. He recognized her.

How are you, Zach?

Living the dream. He leaned against a counter like he was settling in for a conversation.

Because you’re a doctor and people worship you for helping them, she said, trying to flippancy. They throw up on my shoes. One of us picked the wrong career.

Your brother doesn’t think so. He’s really proud of you.

Don’t trust his judgment. You know Brian’s crazy, right? Two kids under five and number three on the way.

I thought you’d be married and living in a vine-covered cottage yourself by now.

Heather shook her head.

That would require me to squeeze in time for things like, oh, dates. They don’t pay. Extra shifts do.

The conversation ended when a young woman in burgundy scrubs walked up with a patient chart. Heather nodded goodbye and headed toward the cafeteria. On the way she dumped her cup in a trash can. That coffee really was crap. Then again, she should have expected it the way this night was going.

How her luck could be so consistently bad, she didn’t know. First a night of non-stop runs and then bumping into Zach Miller. She knew he came back to Ohio after his residency in Las Vegas. Brian told her that much. What her brother didn’t mention was that his best friend since elementary school was an emergency room doctor at their local hospital. Or that he looked every bit as good as he did at Brian’s wedding.

He served as her brother’s best man. He looked incredible in his tux while she tried to cope with the too-long skirt on her bridesmaid’s dress and sleeves that caught on everything. Naturally, they were seated together at the wedding party table. When he asked her to dance, their long acquaintance led her to say yes. Being a little tipsy from free-flowing champagne let her relax into his arms. She knew that without that, she wouldn’t have tightened her grip on his neck, inhaled the scent of soap and aftershave. And she wouldn’t have been blindsided by his kiss after the music ended.

No! She refused to spend one more second wondering why he kissed her and then practically ran away. She needed to erase that moment from her memory. Permanently.

Her partner was at a table when she walked into the cafeteria. Ted Bromley waved her over by lifting a large foam cup, drawing her like the proverbial moth to a flame. She sat down, took a long drink and sighed.

French vanilla creamer and lots of sugar with just the right amount of coffee. You do know how to spoil a woman.

Consider it thanks for the smooth ride. You did a great job tonight.

So did you, Heather said. He’s got a fighting chance.

We rock. Ted grinned and offered a fist bump. Whoever decided to put us together knew what they were doing.

Because we’re awesome. And I’m starving.

Heather went to check out the desserts and spotted a piece of carrot cake with thick cream cheese frosting. She deserved an indulgence on a night like this.

Zach was at the table when she got back.

That looks good. He stuck his fork in her cake and took a generous bite.

Hey, that’s my supper. Heather closed her hands around the plate.

Revenge for the times you stole my stuff when you were a little brat, he said.

Ted looked from one to the other. I assume you two have a history.

Her brother was one of my best friends in high school. I practically lived at the Whitestone house on the weekends.

So you knew all her secrets, huh?

He knows better than to tell, she threatened.

Any chance for Zack to tattle disappeared when Heather and Ted’s pagers chimed in unison. They had another run. She grabbed one last bite, shoved the plate toward Zach and said, Call Brian soon. He needs a break from Mandy’s need to nest.

Zach watched her go before devouring the rest of the carrot cake. She’d developed what his Gran would call spunk. Back in high school, Heather was more the debate club type than cheerleader or prom queen candidate. Quiet was how he would have described her. Sassy fit the bill now. Funny how time could change a person.

The only other occupant of the dining room was a nurse on the other side. Zach pulled out his phone, turned up the volume and clicked onto his favorite video ever. A blond-haired, blue-eyed toddler walked across the screen, giggles erupting from her laughing face. Arielle was perfect. He wished he could have been there at her birth, tucked in her the first night at home, taken his turn with diaper changing and midnight feedings. But he only learned about his fatherhood status when a certified letter arrived at his door two months ago.

Hi, Doc. An ER tech walked over. Zach hit the off button. Want an update on our heart attack guy?

Sure.

He’s stable and heading to the operating room for a stent. The crew bringing him in did a great job. We were lucky to have a cardiologist in the building, too, or things could be a lot different.

Yeah, it was touch and go at first. Trust me, handing him over to Dr. Andrews was my pleasure.

Zach cleared the table before walking back to the emergency area. Another hour or so and he was headed home. Twenty-four hour shifts could be brutal, especially when emergencies stretched them by hours.

The walk-in area stayed quiet the rest of the night. He stitched a cut leg, prescribed antibiotics for an elderly man with a terrible cough and sent a feverish toddler to the pediatric floor. The trouble with easy nights, though, was that they left plenty of time to think.

That letter from a Las Vegas court was at the forefront of his mind. His custody hearing was in two months. Between now and then, he needed to make a home for a two-year-old, figure out some kind of child care arrangement and talk to his supervisor about changing his hours to something more family-friendly.

He’d make this work. Had to. Seeing her the first time made him want nothing more than to be her daddy. According to his Nevada lawyer, though, he had work to do first.

You need to reorganize your life, Preston Alder said. Her grandparents remember you as an in-and-out boyfriend of their daughter’s, more interested in a career than a stable home. It’s too bad you don’t have a wife. Being married would go a long way with the judge. Before we go to court, at least cut back on your hours and make sure you have a care plan beyond dropping her off at hospital day care.

Zach’s pager beeped. He headed back to the emergency room to be greeted with Migraine headache in bed four. Her husband says she’s going on day four and by the way, she’s puking. I wouldn’t stand too close.

Zach made it home without barf stains although the assisting nurse wasn’t as lucky. He dropped his hospital jacket on the front seat of the car before heading up the steps to his second-floor unit. He made a mental note to ask the rental office about openings on the first floor. He couldn’t take a chance on Arielle tumbling down the stairs.

His supper, which he ate while his neighbors made breakfast, was a microwaved frozen burrito and a can of cold pork and beans. Weird combination, he knew, but he didn’t feel like cooking. He just wanted sleep.

In the brief time after his head hit the pillow and he slid into the blackness, he thought of Heather. She was probably going to bed now too. They lived the same sort of topsy-turvy, time-challenged life. He ought to ask her to meet him for coffee, find out what was going on with her now.

HEATHER PULLED UP TO the convenience store pump and shut off her little sedan. She usually swiped the card, filled the tank and went on her merry way. This morning her stomach grumbled as she walked toward the door. She muttered, Just wait. I’ll feed you, looking around to see if anybody heard her talking to herself. Nope. She was the only one here.

She walked straight to the energy drinks and picked one with a super dose of caffeine and lots of protein. At the hot case, she grabbed a biscuit sandwich with hickory bacon and scrambled egg, adding a mini-package of doughnuts as she walked to the counter. The nutrition was terrible but she could eat this stuff in the car. She was cutting it close as it was.

Mandy’s ultrasound was today. Heather volunteered as the ever-dutiful sister to watch the kids before she agreed to this extra shift. She needed all the energy she could get to keep up with the boys, aged almost five and almost three. Given her druthers, she’d veg out in her recliner and watch TV shows recorded the previous night. She loved her little cottage, a personal refuge from her job and the world. But she promised and she was a woman of her word.

I’m here, she announced as she swung open her brother’s backdoor and walked into the kitchen.

With a good three minutes to spare. Brian grinned and gave her a hug. The munchkins are fed and in the playroom. Thanks, sis. I owe you.

Yes, Heather said with a grin, you do. We’ll discuss my fee when you get back.

We’ll be here as soon as we can, Mandy promised. Cross your fingers the office isn’t overbooked.

Heather walked into a room rapidly morphing from organized to chaotic and was greeted by two enthusiastic boys. She planted kisses on their cheeks before pulling her shirt tail from her pants and taking off her boots. At their urging, she sat down on the floor with them to build a block tower. The ring of the phone brought her back to her feet.

Hello, she said after finding the receiver on the kitchen counter.

Heather? a surprised voice asked.

Yeah.

It’s Zach. I thought I was calling Brian.

You are. He’s a day dweller. You know, unlike those of us who hang around hospitals all night long. If you want to catch him at home, it has to be after six.

You live with them? Zach asked.

Riding herd on the boys, Heather said. Brian took Mandy to her baby doctor appointment so they needed a wrangler. Want Brian to call when he gets home?

Yeah. Let me give you my cell number.

I’m sure Brian would love to catch up with you, she said as she wrote down the digits.

I’d like a conversation that doesn’t involve symptoms or hospital gossip. Know what I mean?

She did. The crews at the station, those people she spent most of her time with, were both a rumor mill and storytellers of the worst things that happened on their shifts.

Heather managed to tell him goodbye as the boys began tugging at her to come play again. She convinced them to settle down by turning on the TV. The kids were snuggled against her, watching a favorite movie for the umpteenth time, when their parents returned. They ran to Brian, who picked them both up at the same time with a pretend groan. The response was matching giggles.

So? Heather demanded before Mandy could even set down her purse. Niece or a nephew?

The tech couldn’t tell, Brian said.

Are you serious? I’m dying to buy baby clothes.

I’d suggest yellow. Mandy took the youngest one from her husband. Or green.

Maybe stick to the classics, Brian added. Like pink smocked dresses.

Heather glanced from one to the other in surprise. They were grinning like idiots.

This one’s a girl?

So they say, Mandy confirmed. I’m ready to do some shopping too. You work this weekend?

Off at eight Saturday morning and don’t go back till eight Sunday night. I think we can do a little damage in that period of time.

She left the house elated. Caring for a mini-Mandy would be a new experience. Heather knew about boys but she didn’t have a clue about girls. At least she had plenty of time to learn. Her niece wasn’t going to be born demanding to play dress up.

Anything eventful happen while we were gone? Brian asked.

The boys were good as gold, she said.

Liar. Her brother grinned.

"Okay, they were good as tin. But no one’s bleeding and nothing’s broken. Oh, by the way, Zach Miller called. I think he wants to have